Real Men Do Yoga
21 Star Athletes Reveal Their Secrets for Strength, Flexibility and Peak Performance
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
With its revolutionary approach to yoga and innovative, male-oriented instruction, Real Men Do Yoga will be the definitive guide for both novice and veteran men who are discovering the innumerable physical and mental benefits of yoga.
Satisfying the male fascination with sports and admiration for athletes are interviews with more than twenty pros, all of whom are enthusiastic yoga practitioners: football's Eddie George, Shannon Sharpe and Amani Toomer; baseball pitchers Barry Zito (2002 Cy Young Award winner) and Al Leiter, star hockey goalie Sean Burke and NBA superstar Kevin Garnett as well as pro golfers and tennis players.
Photos of sports stars doing yoga, such as football greats Dan Marino and Chris Carter, drive home a powerful message. Each chapter offers a combination of stretches and strength-builders that target and benefit specific areas:
• Conquering back pain (which afflicts an estimated 10 million men)
• Improving sports performance including yoga for golf, running, basketball, tennis and more
• Increasing flexibility in the upper body, spine and lower body
• Building muscle strength
• Improving sexual performance
In a sea of yoga books aimed at women, Real Men Do Yoga is an easily accessible, "non-New Agey" guidebook that takes something mysterious to American men and offers a reassuringly effective and practical guide that they'll actually use.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This is an excellent introduction to yoga for men, although sportswriter Capouya is a little too concerned about reminding his male readers that yoga "isn't a chick thing." By keeping his book's focus on "yoga's fantastic physical and mental benefits, without getting into the more cosmic stuff," Capouya shows what yoga enthusiasts have known for years that yoga is a "complex, sophisticated exercise system" that can be used to increase flexibility, build muscle energy and functional strength and help prevent sports injuries. The clever thing about this book is that it takes traditional and well-known yoga moves such as the Cobra, the Cat Stretch and the Eagle along with other basic yoga breathing techniques, and shows how they can fit into other body-building programs such as weight-lifting for better overall result. But the book's subtitle is a bit misleading. The book does feature short and direct page-long testimonials by "yoga jocks" like pitcher Al Leiter, as well as comments by other pros such as golfer David Duval and star running back Eddie George ("Yoga definitely builds strength. I've noticed it mostly in my upper body"), whose well-chiseled frame is featured on the cover in a yoga position. But the book's strength is its easy-to-handle introductory program of yoga techniques that can be applied to existing workouts for any other sport.